The Falcons enter a weird spot in their lifecycle this off-season. With a top five pick in hand and a franchise quarterback already on the roster you could make a fair argument to stick with Ryan and add talent to the roster around him. However, on the flip side you can make an argument to draft his successor as Ryan will be 36 when the season begins and that drop off for quarterbacks is typically quick and hard.
Now, the financials make the Ryan conversation a tricky one to navigate as he likely isn’t going anywhere for at least this upcoming season. After that though the door is open for a clean break, given the Falcons want to go this direction and are okay eating the $26.5 million dead cap that is associated with cutting Ryan.
Looking at the Falcons offseason ahead
This means that if the Falcons are to address the quarterback position they likely would be benching the guy for the first year as they develop. Simply, quarterback is not a current top need for this team but the thought process here of course is through a future outline instead of a more short term mindset. It is not common to sit a top five quarterback selection, though it is also not common to be picking top five with a franchise quarterback on roster, yet the Falcons find themselves at the root end of both these sticks.
There is no definitive answer to what happens with Ryan currently and with a new front office and coaching staff the questions will continue to linger. However, looking towards the 2021 NFL Draft for their next quarterback is not a bad idea.